Prolific fantasy author Diana Wynne Jones has passed away at the age of 76. She had been battling lung cancer for the past two years.

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Born in 1934, Jones studied at Oxford and attended lectures by J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. She published her first novel, Changeover, in 1970. Jones is best-known for her 1986 novel Howl's Moving Castle, recently adapated as a well-received film for Studio Ghibli, and her Chrestomanci and Derkholm series of novels. She received the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007. Her book, The Tough Guide to Fantasyland should be required reading for anyone planning to write a secondary world epic fantasy.